One of the prime necessities of the toy art is that toys need be safe for children. Of great concern is the tendency for children to bite off or to eat substances which may be toxic or which are of a size that could choke them. Thus, materials of which the toys are made are critical, as well as construction techniques that make the toys safe.
It is desirable to have toys that are not easily damaged in play. Children can subject toys to many kinds of abuse, such as biting, impact by blunt instruments such as throwing on the floor, penetration of sharp objects such as pencils, and attempting to tear them apart. Thus, a toy preferably has the ability to stand these kinds of abuse.
A toy need be kept sanitary as well, since they frequently end up in the mouth. Thus, they need be washable to remove accumulation of food, dirt, etc. Also, the construction should be inconsistent with bacterial growth.
Teddy bear type toys are lovable and become special as time goes by. Thus, they should have long life without becoming shabby or unkempt. Also, they should be able to go everywhere with their owners, such as in bath tub and swimming pool to share in the fun. This establishes the special requirement that they need to shed water and avoid absorption in order to be useful in or out of the water at any time.
It is particularly appropriate that a beloved toy can be a life saver. This provides a toy role model function by which safety in water may be ingrained. Thus, life preservation qualities in water are desirable so that there is enough buoyancy to support a child in the water. Ordinary life preservers of the inflatable type are dangerous, however, since penetration by a sharp object can immobilize them.
When all the foregoing problems are considered, it has not been feasible heretofore to find any single toy fulfilling all these requirements. There are inflatable toy dolls as in A. E. Murphy U.S. Pat. No. 1,558,200 of Oct. 20, 1925 and other toy shapes as in C. W. Hubbell U.S. Pat. No. 1,851,768 of Mar. 29, 1932 and other stuffed floating toys such as in V. Danberg U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,286 of Aug. 12, 1969. However, as above-mentioned, they are not durable, long life, and safe and could not meet the objectives of this invention.